NY Times Mis-Information on Turkey
From: Ayse Gul Altinay (Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology)
Subject: Your coverage of Turkey
To: filkins@nytimes.com
Dear Mr. Filkins,
I have been reading your articles on Turkey's position
in relation to Iraq with great surprise and
disappointment. I understand that you are based in
Turkey, yet there is little evidence of that in your
articles. Your piece on February 4, for instance, reads
more like the press briefing of 'an anonymous US
diplomat in Ankara' than an informed understanding of
Turkey's reaction to the current situation. I do not
understand journalism to be a one-sided coverage of
government policies and statements. Unfortunately, your
coverage of the current situation in Turkey has been
damaging the credibility of the New York Times --in my
eyes and in the eyes of many people I know.
Particularly troubling is the 'misinformation' you
provide regarding the anti- war sentiments of Turkish
citizens. Here are two quotations from your recent
pieces:
"There have been few sizable public demonstrations
against war in Iraq. Many Turks say they would like
nothing more than to see Saddam Hussein ousted from
Iraq, and in recent days, a number of journalists and
business leaders warned of lasting damage to the crucial
alliance with America."
"Still, opposition to the war has been mostly muted
here. There have been relatively few public
demonstrations, and even fewer that have drawn sizable
crowds. Many Turks say they would like nothing more than
to see Saddam Hussein ousted from Iraq, and in recent
days, there was a growing chorus among Turkish
journalists and business leaders that Turkey was running
the risk of seriously damaging its half-century-old
alliance with the United States."
Unfortunately, you have missed the very significant
point that the 'growing chorus' in Turkey has not been
that of mainstream journalists and certain businessmen,
it has been that of organized as well as individual
opposition to the war. The people you cite in making
your claim have remained in the small minority and have
faced serious criticism from all fronts.
Are you aware of or have you reported the recent polls
which suggest that 94% of the population strongly oppose
this war? Have you interviewed ANYONE among this 94%?
Have you reported the fact that there are DAILY protests
all around Turkey coming from all sections of the
population? The massive protests in Istanbul, Ankara,
Izmir, Mersin? The Assembly of the 100s last week where
more than 2000 people, among them Turkey's most
prominent names (academics, writers, artists, actors-
actresses, businesspeople, doctors, lawyers), made a
joint peace declaration?
Have you been reading the numerous press statements
issued by the Turkish Bar Association, Doctors
Association, Academic associations, human rights
organizations, labour unions, the Anti-War Platform of
162 NGOs, the Peace Initiative of Turkey, etc.?
Have you reported the four-day visit of your fellow
citizen Ryan Amundson who lost a brother in the Sept 11
attacks and represents 'Seprember Eleventh Families for
Peaceful Tomorrows' in Turkey? He was on at least 3
national televisions (including CNN-TURK, NTV, and TV 8,
at least one primetime live interview)and all major
newspapers last week. He met with the Deputy Prime
Minister Yalcinbayir and the Speaker of the Parliament
Arinc in Ankara and asked them to oppose the war IN THE
INTERESTS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, as well as those of
Turkish and Iraqi people. Have you
interviewed him about his views of the Turkish peace
movement and learned about how surprised he was to see
the union of such a diverse group of people from all
over the country being so active together?
Amundson reads the NY Times regularly. One reason why he
was surprised is because none of this has been reported
in the NYTimes (by you or anybody else).
Let me go back to your remark regarding anti-war
opposition in Turkey having been 'mute': Have you, Mr
Filkins, asked the politicians in Ankara how they feel
about the thousand messages they have been getting in
their mobile phones in the last three days? Or the faxes
and emails? Have you asked them what they say to the
senders of these messages when they callor write them
back? Have you asked them whether they felt like they
were representing their voters and the citizens of
Turkey as they voted for the modernization of Turkish
airports for US use today? Have you asked them about the
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of anti-war signatures that were
presented to them in the last couple of weeks?
Have you interviewed the telephone operators of the
Turkish Grand National Assembly who are overwhelmed with
the protest messages they receive via the phone every
day?
Most importantly, have you asked ANYONE if they have
seen such grassroots political activism coming from all
sectors of Turkey's diverse population since the
military coup in 1980?
You are right about one thing, Mr. Filkins. The majority
of the Turkish people could not care less about Saddam,
if anything they know what a cruel dictator he was. They
are well aware of the biological weapons he used only 10
years ago (which had met no opposition from the US at
that time). Yet, they are STILL overwhelmingly against
this war because they know that war is not the answer to
this problem, that war will only trigger the use of the
weapons he is believed to have, that the hundreds of
thousands of deaths that this war will incur provide a
more imminent threat to peace and security in the region
than Saddam's regime who has begun to collaborate with
the UN. --This is my interpretation, perhaps you have a
better one. But you ARE obligated to provide an
explanation as to the fact that 94% of the population in
Turkey oppose this war WHILE AT THE SAME TIME opposing
Saddam and his cruel regime. You are also obligated, I
believe, to present an OBJECTIVE account of Turkey's
response (both the government AND the people) to the
current situation whether this picture suits US
government's interests or not. Otherwise, we will all
conclude that the New York Times is nothing but an
official news agency of the US government.
For your information, I am attaching to this message a
summary of last week's peace events (only a selection of
them over the weekend of 25-27 January), the Peace
Declaration of "the Assembly of the 100s", and the
letter that I sent individually to 550 parliamentarians
in Ankara. Mine was among the thousands of such letters.
Regards,
Ayse Gul Altinay
Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Sabanci University